diff --git a/build_library/release_util.sh b/build_library/release_util.sh
index 12d8a82807..7b20d383df 100644
--- a/build_library/release_util.sh
+++ b/build_library/release_util.sh
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ DEFINE_boolean parallel ${FLAGS_TRUE} \
   "Enable parallelism in gsutil."
 DEFINE_boolean upload ${UPLOAD_DEFAULT} \
   "Upload all packages/images via gsutil."
+DEFINE_boolean private ${FLAGS_TRUE} \
+  "Upload the image as a private object."
 DEFINE_string upload_root "${FLATCAR_UPLOAD_ROOT}" \
   "Upload prefix, board/version/etc will be appended. Must be a gs:// URL."
 DEFINE_string upload_path "" \
diff --git a/build_library/vm_image_util.sh b/build_library/vm_image_util.sh
index eb6b1fee02..d530204602 100644
--- a/build_library/vm_image_util.sh
+++ b/build_library/vm_image_util.sh
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ VALID_IMG_TYPES=(
     digitalocean
     exoscale
     azure
+    azure_premium
     hyperv
     niftycloud
     cloudsigma
@@ -270,6 +271,11 @@ IMG_azure_DISK_FORMAT=vhd
 IMG_azure_DISK_LAYOUT=azure
 IMG_azure_OEM_PACKAGE=oem-azure
 
+## azure premium
+IMG_azure_premium_DISK_FORMAT=vhd
+IMG_azure_premium_DISK_LAYOUT=azure
+IMG_azure_premium_OEM_PACKAGE=oem-azure
+
 ## hyper-v
 IMG_hyperv_DISK_FORMAT=vhd
 IMG_hyperv_OEM_PACKAGE=oem-hyperv
diff --git a/jenkins/vm.sh b/jenkins/vm.sh
index 2526fc69bd..be2913a26c 100644
--- a/jenkins/vm.sh
+++ b/jenkins/vm.sh
@@ -43,6 +43,13 @@ img=src/flatcar_production_image.bin
 [[ "${img}.bz2" -nt "${img}" ]] &&
 enter lbunzip2 -k -f "/mnt/host/source/${img}.bz2"
 
+PRIVATE_UPLOAD_OPT=""
+if [[ "${FORMAT}" == 'azure_premium' ]]
+then
+  PRIVATE_UPLOAD_OPT="--private"
+  UPLOAD_ROOT=${UPLOAD_PRIVATE_ROOT}
+fi
+
 script image_to_vm.sh \
     --board="${BOARD}" \
     --format="${FORMAT}" \
@@ -54,4 +61,5 @@ script image_to_vm.sh \
     --sign_digests="${SIGNING_USER}" \
     --download_root="${DOWNLOAD_ROOT}" \
     --upload_root="${UPLOAD_ROOT}" \
-    --upload
+    --upload \
+    ${PRIVATE_UPLOAD_OPT}